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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester City can dent Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes and move above the Gunners in the process when they face-off at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with Arsene Wenger’s side looking to close the gap to runaway leaders Chelsea to six points. Follow the latest here.
- Manchester City vs Arsenal kicks off at 16:00 GMT
- City without suspended Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho
- Ilkay Gundogan ruled out for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage
- Teams:
- Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy; Fernando; Sané, Touré, Silva, Sterling; De Bruyne
- Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Stones, Nolito, Navas, Iheanacho, A Garcia
- Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Xhaka; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez.
- Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Holding, Elneny, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lucas, Giroud.
Follow the live action below...
Please allow a moment for the blog to load...
Arsenal cannot afford to slip up when they travel to Manchester City on Sunday or else risk dropping nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea, while City also find themselves in a perilous position after a run of poor form.
With a Gunners a solitary point ahead of fourth-placed City, the match will see two sides having their title credentials tested go head to head with the loser in danger of falling out of the title picture.
City go into the match on the back foot, with Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho suspended and Ilkay Gundogan ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in Wednesday’s victory over Watford.
At least City enter the match off the back of a win though. Arsenal suffered a surprising defeat at Everton on Tuesday in which they were soundly beaten by a team more determined to grab the three points. They could have Aaron Ramsey back for the match, but Arsene Wenger confirmed it comes too soon for Danny Welbeck while Shkodran Mustafi, Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla remain long-term absentees.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Premier League encounter.
It’s a big game for...
Nolito: The Spain international replaced youngster Kelechi Iheanacho for the win over Watford and is likely to continue as the lead striker for the visit of Arsenal. He has big shoes to fill, as the absent Aguero has scored four goals against Arsenal during his Premier League career.
Best stat...
3.2: This clash tends to produce goals, with 32 goals scored between the two sides over their last 10 meetings. City’s biggest victory remains the 6-3 demolition on December 2013, while Arsenal have not managed to better the 3-0 Community Shield victory in 2014 as their best league triumph came in the 2-0 win in January 2015.
Who to look out for...
Alexis Sanchez: The Arsenal striker is running red-hot this season and the ongoing contract negotiations with the club do not appear to be a distraction. Sanchez has 14 goals this season for his club along with two more for his country, and the Chilean now has as many league goals as Diego Costa this season along with the same number of assists in fewer minutes.
Likely teams...
Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy; Toure, Fernando, Sterling, Silva De Bruyne; Nolito.
Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Ghaka, Coquelin, Walcott, Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez.
Past three meetings...
Manchester City 2 (Aguero, De Bruyne) Arsenal (Giroud, Sanchez), Premier League, May 2016.
Arsenal 2 (Walcott, Giroud) Manchester City 1 (Toure), Premier League, December 2015.
Manchester City 0 Arsenal 2 (Cazorla, Giroud), Premier League, January 2015.
Form...
Manchester City: DWLDLW
Arsenal: WLWWWL
Odds...
Manchester City to win: 23/20
Arsenal to win: 5/2
Draw: 13/5
(Odds provided by 888sport)
Where can you watch it...
Manchester City vs Arsenal is live on Sky Sports 1 from 15:30.
Highlights on BBC One on Monday at 22:45.
You can also follow it with The Independent’s live blog live on Sunday afternoon.
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the Premier League clash between Manchester City and Arsenal, brought to you from the Etihad Stadium where Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger go head-to-head once again. Follow all the build-up here, with the match set to get underway at 16:00.
The players are lining up in the tunnel, ready to begin this huge fixture.
The City players are in the tunnel with their team shirts on backwards with 'Gundogan' wrote on the front - paying tribute to their injured teammate who they have sadly lost for the rest of the season. It's a great show of support from the club.
3 MINS
Ex-Arsenal man attempts an early through ball to Sterling, but he miskick's the ball and The Gunners regain possession. City are controlling the tempo of the game, so far.
5 MINS
GOAL
MANCHESTER CITY 0 - 1 ARSENAL
Theo Walcott has broken the deadlock with an early goal, assisted by Sanchez. The Chilean pings the ball through to Walcott on the edge of the box, who calmly controls the ball and strike it past a helpless Bravo. It's a tremendous team goal that opened up City's back four.
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